nokillbananashelter

[nokillbananashelter]

I am SO glad Zelda Notes is not 100% integrated into the game because these would have 100% damaged my initial experience of botw. It’s not poorly done, it’s not badly acted, its not canon breaking, or even illogical narratively. It’s not even something I don’t want in *other* zeldas. I literally would love zelda to be quipping about stuff in SOME WAY in future zeldas and gushed about the concept in another post(though now i see the concept might need some tooling).

For THIS GAME, It just shrinks the theatre of the mind BOTW was designed around. The narrative of totk and botw is supposed to be found hidden in plane sight. Wordlessly. And most of what the notes cover…. Are things you can infer to SOME degree. Zelda recalls her father being a just man who knows his people….but maybe not super aware of his foibles. marketplaces have exactly the suspects you’d imagine and are multicultural centers of exchange. Bell towers are indeed bell towers. The temple of time looks a lot like the OOT temple…. But maybe isnt!

Nothing here is supremely significant- not even the revali blurb. We KNEW he had a rivalry with link. We KNEW he wanted to be *the* guy and was a competitive person. Of course he put stock in zelda. I did not need the confirmation. Its cool to think about, but i was invested in imagining it already.

None of the biggest added details are not inferable on a level that deeply matters- and thats GREAT because I personally did not need it spelled out! Assuming stuff *like* the details listed is more fun to think about when it can be *anything*. I would rather think about all the ways revali was a dickhead or deeply caring, i would rather note the similarities and differences of the architecture (in botw & totk) on my own.

And don’t get me wrong here- i recognize and appreciate that specificity is being made that CANNOT be inferred, but much of it isn’t world shattering.

I really appreciate that we are getting this test because in my opinion I find this to be a first draft of reintroducing Navi-style information dumping as a mechanic. It is good to get this idea on paper in a low invested way to see what works and what doesn’t, and what could make the next iteration of this really fascinating.

Let’s imagine for a second that Zelda in the next game does lore dropping similarly to this- but there is riddles, lyrics, and folklore zelda is there to assist in framing for you….but not spelling it out.

And I think that is something that I really hope is continued in the next Zelda. It is so important to not spell everything out that is the same exact pitfall that held Slyward Sword back.

The goal should be communicating in a way that engages players to piece it together themselves- thats what makes Zelda so special and I don’t want Botw/TOTKs best narrative lessons to be abandoned!

[nokillbananashelter]

If you think the point of zelda is the realism & should be super serious and grounded your chances of being insecure, boring, or unhealed are astronomically higher. Wanting zelda to be based in realism is a fascist talking point as far as I’m concerned. IMO you packed up that green tunic long ago if you think that. I don’t make the rules I just call em like I sees em.

[nokillbananashelter]

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[nokillbananashelter]

Hello 🙋

My name is Ahmed, I’m 20 years old, and I’m from Gaza City. I used to dream of a peaceful life, completing my education, and getting a job, but the war has turned that dream into something impossible 💔😭. We lived through this massacre in every painful detail, and we are still in pain 😔. We were so happy when the ceasefire was announced, and we returned to our homes in the north of Gaza after being displaced for a year and a half in a tent in the south of the Strip. After we fixed a small room in our destroyed house to live in and start over, unfortunately, the war returned, stronger than before 💔. Now, we have no shelter and no source of income. We have exhausted all our savings during the war. I know that I started my campaign very late, but that’s because there is no other way to help my family 🙏. I am fully confident and hopeful that someone here will help us as much as they can and save my family in these difficult circumstances 😔.

I know that the feeling of starting from scratch is painful and frustrating, but I hope to receive any amount for my family 🥺🙏.

https://chuffed.org/project/helpahmedfamily

Even a small donation would have a great impact on us 🥺. May God bless you, my friend 🥰❤️.

[nokillbananashelter]

So there are several species of frogs that have evolved to be so small that their vestibular balance system doesn't work well and I'm sorry but it's the funniest thing to watch them try to jump.

[nokillbananashelter]

AI is just the same guy putting on a different key jingling mask again and again and people going “ITS REAL THIS TIME”.

It’s always been shock politics, an obsession with aesthetics, and a lack of empathy. It’s always been an arms race. Its always been hollow. It’s always been a waste of resources. Its always been about phasing people out. Its always been fatalistic, cynical, and selfish. Its always been propaganda.

It’s ALWAYS been hamfisted shit. Its always been phony. It will REMAIN phony. You cannot replace a human, a horse, a tree. You can only kill them and pretend you did something better, as you slowly inch towards your own self made, suffocated demise, surrounded by less and worse.

Rich people really think this is end game right now. You don’t have to.

We are not in a simulation. We are not being replaced. Stop giving them your fear. Start giving them your fury.

[nokillbananashelter]

To say what I said earlier more concisely:

AI IS ONLY AS CONVINCING AS YOUR EMOTIONAL REACTION TO IT, LENGTH OR SIZE OF THE CONTENT, AND YOUR EXPOSURE TO OTHER EXAMPLES. THE ILLUSION ALWAYS HAS A SHELF LIFE.

[nokillbananashelter]

Hello, my name is Lama, and I am from Gaza City, specifically in the northern Gaza Strip. I grew up in a loving family of resilience and hope, with my parents working tirelessly to provide us with a life of dignity and opportunity. My father was our steadfast provider, and my mother was the heart of our home. I have two brothers and three sisters, the youngest of whom is just six months old. She is frail and often sick due to the lack of proper food and medicine. My siblings and I have shared dreams of education, careers and a bright future. But life in Gaza is marked by hardship, and when the war began, everything we had built was shattered. My older brother, a kind and a courageous soul, was martyred while trying to secure basic necessities for our survival, my younger sister was gravely injured, and the cost of her treatment weighs more than the universe to us, now the responsibility for my family has fallen on my shoulders.

Our home, once filled with warmth, laughter and memories, has been reduced to rubble. We have been displaced more than thirty times from place to a place with nothing but the clothes on our backs. Each time we returned, we found more destruction, we always clung to the hope of rebuilding, but in the last attack, our home was completely destroyed, we are now homeless, living in unsafe conditions with no shelter to protect us from the cold nights. The loss of our home is not just the loss of a building, it’s the loss of safety, stability, and the place where our dreams were nurtured.

With my father unemployed since the beginning of the war, we have no income to provide even the most basic necessities. Water, food, medicine, warm clothes and blankets-things that many take for granted-are beyond our reach. Every day is a battle for survival, and every night is a reminder of the dangers and struggles we face. I am determined to care for family and give my younger brothers and sisters a chance to grow up with hope. But I cannot do it alone.

I am reaching out to you with a plea for compassion and action. Your support can help us rebuild our lives, restore hope, and secure a future where my family can live in peace and safety. Every donation, no matter how small brings us closer to survival and dignity. Please for the sake of god and humanity, help us in this time of desperate need.

[nokillbananashelter]

My Journey to Escape the War in Gaza

My name is Abdelmajed. I never imagined I’d be sharing my story like this, but life in Gaza has become unbearable. I am a survivor of the war here, and in the blink of an eye, everything I once knew—my home, my safety, my community—was ripped away from me.

The war has transformed Gaza into a graveyard of broken dreams. The buildings that once stood as symbols of life and resilience are now piles of rubble. Every corner is filled with the echoes of explosions. Every moment is shrouded in uncertainty. There is no security. There is no stability. There is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Basic needs have become luxuries. Food is scarce. Clean water is even scarcer. Hospitals are overwhelmed and under-resourced, and there is almost no medical care to be found. Every night, families go to bed hungry, praying they’ll wake up to see another day. The cost of basic necessities has skyrocketed, and it’s become a daily battle just to survive.

I’ve seen things I never thought possible—standing in long lines for a piece of bread, rationing every drop of water, and watching my people suffer in silence. I have lost everything—my home, my safety, my dignity.

Escape from Gaza is my only hope, but it’s almost impossible without financial help. The cost of evacuation is far beyond my means, and without support, I’m trapped in a warzone with no way out.

I’m reaching out to you now, in the hopes that someone, anyone, can help. I am not asking for luxury. I am asking for a chance—just a chance—to live. A chance to escape this never-ending cycle of fear, destruction, and loss. A chance to rebuild my life somewhere safe, where I can begin again, where I can find hope once more.

Any amount you can give will help me get closer to safety. Even the smallest donation will make a difference—it could be the lifeline I need to survive. If you are unable to donate, please share my story. The more people who hear it, the better the chance that I can find the support I desperately need.

Your kindness and support mean the world to me. You’re not just helping me escape a war; you’re giving me a chance to live, to rebuild, to breathe again.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for caring.

Vetted by @gazavetters

[nokillbananashelter]

texas is funny. this one time a guy(in his truck) yelled at me(outside)(in summer) for wearing a cowboy hat(to provide shade)(while working)(in the sun) while i was working in the garden (in summer)(in texas)(on a sunny day)

sorry i’m a #FakeCowboy for wearing a cowboy hat(in the summer)(in the sun)(while working)(in a garden) instead of wearing my cowboy hat(meant for working)(in the sun) while driving a truck(air-conditioned) like a #RealCowboy who does Manly Work (with his truck)(spotless)(unblemished)(with AC)

[nokillbananashelter]

[nokillbananashelter]

Once I spoke with a girl who told me a friend had invited her to a pool party, but she didn't want to go because the friend's mom had HIV.

I told her that this was a common concern, but HIV can't be transmitted by sharing a pool, and in fact HIV is such a weak virus that it can't even survive on a table for more than a few hours, and it can be killed entirely by bleach.

She asked me, "if you can kill HIV with bleach, why haven't we cured it yet?"

I told her, "because we can't put Bleach into people without killing them".

She said that this was interesting, but she still wasn't going to go.

(We did not become friends.)

The other day, I saw a group of teenage boys climbing all over an electrical box in town.

I walked over and asked if they were aware this was an electrocution risk.

One of them asked what I meant. I pointed to the large yellow image of a stick man with a lightning bolt through its chest and repeated, "it has an electrocution warning on it. Don't get blown up."

The kid laughed and said, "hey, play at your own risk, right?" And went back to his buddies.

I went back to what I was doing, but kept an eye out, and did notice that within the next five minutes, the whole group had removed themselves from the box and were now gathered several feet away from it.

I can't make people do things. I can inform, and support, but I cannot make their choices.

This is something that is hard to learn.

[nokillbananashelter]

Oblivion was never my flavor and I really get bamboozled by anyone saying the game was peak graphics for its time (it was for open-world perhaps but graphics are more than “amount of stuff on screen”). But there is something it did that I think has left an INCREDIBLE lasting impact on games that is profound because of where they went to with it-

If you spin a lot of plates good enough, you start to see the vision of something that is much more than what is. Oblivion was an exercise in immersive play that wanted to consider as much as possible but also recognized you didnt need to navel gaze design. It was scope creep managed in a functional way that actually clicked with people’s imaginations. It wasn’t afraid of being imperfect, but also it wanted to as much as possible make you see what it was seeing.

Idk, you can argue every game does this, but TES as a series is fundamental for games putting immersion above anything else, and part of immersion is tricking your imagination theres more than meets the eye and seeing far beyond what you do see. In that way, Oblivion made me feel so many incredible things, despite overall not being my thing. It was a concept art piece that was accessible to millions of people and inspired them to daydream.

Also idk, Oblivion is BOTW/TOTK’s grandpa and I appreciate it simply because it QWOP’d so Nintendo could skateboard off a halfpipe with the same design ethos as it and Skyrim.

[nokillbananashelter]

I respect No Man’s Sky from an academic level, from a struggling artist level, from a indie dev history level, from a computing level, from an other people’s experience and enjoyment level. I am so glad people get to have this and hello games made it into what they did. I RESPECT what this game is and means.

As a game for ME tho, this game sucks ass in a way I could not imagine. It is awful for me- to touch this game and feel it’s knobby clunktascular surfaces, its mundane sameness and painful UI. Its koolaid laser of sad blandness. Its vague crafting system of geocities unusual hyperlinks. I would not have come to terms with that without the library letting me handle it without money strings.

Thank you library for giving me the freedom to strongly hate a piece of media and forget about it! Thank you critics and video game analysts. thank you for doing that work for me. I simply could not on my own.

[nokillbananashelter]

A continuous lesson I learn in life is that 90% of skill sharing is someone enthusiastically sharing their hyper specific technical fixations, time saving hacks, personal experiences, and journeys that are not inherently foundational to an experience and presenting it as the right or only way- and as a student, receiving that passion as proof of that thesis to a point of misunderstanding what the foundational blocks are, which means the skill wasn’t truly understood, just that person’s process (which is functional if you follow it!).

Example- Breadmaking. People have a LOT of nuanced impassioned opinions on what is NECESSARY for making a yeaststarter. Grains, feeding schemes, ratios, container configurations, and over-engineering the process of keeping it alive and even baking it. People have intense arguments over this and what MUST be done. Thats how you get a great-nay, PERFECT yeast starter!!

And while all of it has validity….

The reality is that yeast is all around us and it…. Likes flour. Even bleached flour and water haphazardly tossed into a clean cup tended to once a day can turn into a successful yeast starter. And even then, a yeast starter can be far more resilient than some would assume. You can actually neglect a yeast starter in the refrigerator for a while and reactivate it without much effort! It can be very forgiving! Can it break? Yes. Is bleached flour optimal? Hell no. But you can do it if you have patience and take your time.

A lot of people just starting out would benefit from hearing that and making something that isn’t perfect but is still functional and teaches you what is ACTUALLY necessary to get from A to B.

A lot of people learned to make bread at the start of the pandemic. Think about how much more could have learned if we were all better teachers!

Skillsharing should be accessible! You don’t need a high end materials, you don’t need high concept techniques. We forget that sometimes in our own specializations and excitement for craft. It actually intimidates and gatekeeps people out, which is a bummer because I think it’s the OPPOSITE of what an impassioned talented enthusiast wants to do.

The foundations also have to be respected and not treated condescendingly. Making a yeast starter with basically nothing isn’t “for babies”or “bad” or “inferior”, it’s a MIRACLE!! It’s IMPRESSIVE. It’s USEFUL. It’s BRILLIANT AND BEAUTIFUL. You are unlocking a SURVIVAL skill! You are learning to participate in a thousands year old practice that friends, lovers, families, and communities were grown around and flourished by. That should be celebrated and respected and held to a joyful, readily understood, and welcoming light.

[nokillbananashelter]

Why You Should Consider Link Being a Silent Protagonist:

Silent Protagonist ≠ always no dialogue

Silent protagonist does = minimal dialogue, grunts, sparse moments of communication, or no dialogue at all. It’s a spectrum.

Mute people are relatable beings you can empathize with

Quiet people are relatable beings you can empathize with

Link is narratively described as quiet and has story reasons for being reserved in the 2 latest iterations of Mainline Zelda and its part of his character development that he opens up and DOES speak more. It’s literally acknowledged in the most popular zelda title (BOTW).

Let me reiterate- its part of his character to say very little or to have story reasons for not speaking up at first!

Link is silent in EOW for Plot Reasons, pointing to this being a possibility continual in plot recognition

Link is pointed to as THE example of silent protagonist outside of like, Gordon Freeman. Nintendo literally is acknowledging that in its most recent and popular zeldas.

The movie will draw a lot of inspiration from BOTW and TOTK and you would be in denial if you thought elsewise

Childrens cartoons, blockbuster action movies, art house films, comics, games, and more have characters who chirp their name more than speak or barely speak at all

Some of the most Lucrative characters in media fall into this category and some would argue make more money than any plot or franchise. R2D2, Chewie, and Grogu are a HONEYPOT and Lucas could probably speak ad nauseam about this if he wasn’t busy weeping about how he’s not getting all of it

Young children’s media does not rely on a lot of words to convey concepts

His Windwaker Design is literally inspired by kids cartoons and animation that relies on emotion not words

As a person who spent decades studying children’s media I can tell you kids respond to action and story that relies on physical acting, facial emotions, cause-and-effect, observation, and may things that do not need words

Samurai Jack, Grogu, Chewie, R2D2, Snoopy, Gromit, Pikachu, Groot, Boomhaur, Onion, Schnitzel, Animal, the Minions, Silent Bob, Driver (from drive), Mad Max (fury road), are all examples of popular characters who chirp, babble, or barely speak and people love the piss out of them

Movies started without audio and again the foundational concepts of most storytelling in movies happened *without dialogue at first*

Physical acting is a theatrical medium that both adults and children respond positively to

Physical acting is the foundation of fight scenes, chase scenes, stunts, and action in general- things that will be highly features in this movie

Animation, Illustration, and Visual story telling LIKE MOVIES is based on *showing, not telling* for 90% of its time.

James baxter, norman rockwell, charlie chaplin don’t need words to carry bankrolls and make you piss yourself in tears. James Dean also inspired an entire hollywood casting standard based on *staring in vibes*

Some of the most emotionally grappling movies and moments in cinema come from no dialogue in the mix. Up is still fucking you up, and the Piano is a rollercoaster of turmoil because of its silent protagonist. There is literally a No Dialogue cut of Fury Road that fucks and is highly praised

We literally have examples in the GAMES where support characters and other protagonists carry the weight of exposition, conversation, and explanation.

Zelda is right there you twerps, she can do the talking even if she is not with link physically. We literally have examples of this in game too. Midna is also right there, carrying the stone cold plot of Twilight Princess on her quipped up bitch noggin

This whole conversational point about it being hard or impossible or a bad idea is an insult to writers, illustrators, musicians, actors, directors, editors, stage designers, story boarders, makeup artists, cameramen, dancers, game designers, extras, special effects artists, puppeteers, marketing departments, toy designers, STUNTMEN, comic book artists, Miyamoto, audience members, children, adults, quiet people, mute people & their loved ones, the established zelda lore, link’s OWN DAMN CHARACTER IN CANON, and yourself if you believe that

have a better imagination, you deserve it!

Be more curious & open hearted, you deserve it!

There’s no excuse for him to not be quiet in some way other than “they didn’t feel like it, creatively” which is valid and totally acceptable and not a big deal, and could absolutely result in a wonderful portrayal of Link!

[nokillbananashelter]

I’m a retro game, film, and animation enthusiast since basically birth, and my videogame hot take is that 60/120+ framerates can and do sometimes ruin the visual aesthetic of games that are designed to look great while framelocked at 30 fps or are designed with lower fps in mind and there is a reason film & tv doesn’t chase 60 fps. Its also a similar reason your sportmode ass tv raising framerate makes things looks bad that goes beyond the tv making approximations with AI-it is harder to make things not look cheap or dated in higher framerates. It’s also the same reason retro games looked better on CRTs. You’re breaking the fragile illusions’ originally designed presentation when you don’t have some level of “smear” in mind. Thats all there is to it.

Remasters can address this! Tuning up lighting, improving textures, etc. But you have to be so careful sometimes, because it doesn’t take much to render out original character within the art.

I’m not arguing for chug, lag, or frame DROPS as a good thing. Simply saying raising the technical fidelity of things can be compared (sometimes) to raising the speed of a record player. You’re distorting it’s designed settings.

I really hope we are entering an era where chasing technological advancement is not about horsepower and making a number go bigger. I feel like chasing gadget specs very often misses the forest for the trees.